Life Challenges

Life is always so interesting and can be liken to a river flowing to its destination, which could be an apt description as we sometimes hear phrases such as “Go with the flow”, “Go with the current”, “Don’t go against the current” etc.

Yes, you may also agree that life can throw unexpected curveballs at you, at the time when you least need it as well!  Challenges can appear anytime in life. There could be so many things running and requiring your attention and action that this could just seem to be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. “How am I going to cope with this?”. Some view it as a problem while some may view it as a challenge in the course of their daily life.

Well, this could also be the turning point to something much better in life.
“The bad must go, to make space for the good to occupy”. It is a phrase that I coined and believe in.  It could probably be the case for you as well.

Allow me to share a small challenge that my family is facing right now and you may be able to relate it to your life or your circle of friends.

My house maid recently requested to return home to her country, Indonesia, citing reasons that she needed to go through some legal process to stop her ex-husband from taking away her son to some other country. Giving her the benefit of doubt, we let her depart for home in June and agreed on the return date of 2nd July 2013. She is afterall still a fellow human who has feelings and problems, and we also want to help and show concern to her, given that she is considered a member of the household.

During the period that our maid was away, the family had to plan and coordinate the household issues such as household chores, meals, taking care of the 2 kids’ schedules. The good thing is that it was the school holidays and the kids do not need to go to school and can stay at home most of the time. It was only the maid’s returning week that the kids need to go to school and we had to make arrangement for the younger kid to go and come back from school. Everyone chipped in to contribute to vacuuming, moping, cleaning, doing the laundry, some cooking and chores that would apply to a normal household. It was a bit hectic on top of our work and the children’s holiday school work and program.

Come 2nd July, our maid did not appear at our house at the expected time as she would return to our home from the airport herself. After checking the flight details, I discovered that the flight had been delayed. “This explains why she is still not home yet.”, I thought to myself. Many hours passed….

Finally, my wife called the maid’s mother’s mobile phone in Indonesia to check. No answer…
She then sent a text message to the mobile phone. A reply came. “I lost the passport and cannot go back” was the reply.
After numerous attempts to call and text her later that evening, we asked the final question, ;”Do you plan to return? If so, what is your next step? If not, let us know as well, by 1pm tomorrow.”
15 minutes before the dateline of 1pm, my wife received the text message reply, “my no came back to singapore, because my mother 10 jul go arab saudi”. Our first response is “good! at least we know what we need to do next”.  So, we will be looking for a new maid to replace her as a stay-in maid would still be the best solution based on current conditions.

Out of this episode during my maid’s absence, I noticed that my daughters are more independant and are more involved in helping out on household chores. When we are out working, they would need to wake up by themselves, prepare and take breakfast and do some other school stuff and simple household chores such as hanging and keeping the laundry, folding and keeping the dry laundry, vacuuming the floor, cook some simple lunches, taking care of each other etc. This gave them a more real sense of responsibility and contribution towards the family and further enhanced their self confidence and being independant.

Everything happens for a reason. I believe a better maid is coming to join our household and we would still let the kids to be more involved in household affairs and being even more independant.

So any readers out there in Singapore who knows of a reliable maid who is looking for a new employer, do let me know. Thank you!